NCAA BRACKET
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Three American Athletic Conference men’s soccer teams will compete in the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s Soccer Championship, as No. 7 UCF and UConn both earned at-large selections to the tournament field on Monday along with SMU’s automatic bid.
The American receives three nods for the first time since 2015, when four conference squads made the national tournament field.
The 48-team NCAA Championship field is made up of champions from 24 conferences, who qualified automatically, in addition to 24 teams that were selected at-large. The top 16 teams were seeded and receive first round byes. All first-round games will be played Thursday, Nov. 15, on campus sites, while all second-round action will take place Sunday, Nov. 18. The third round will be played Nov. 24 and 25, while the quarterfinals will be played Nov. 30 or Dec. 1.
UCF, after earning the top seed for last week’s American Championship, is one of the top 16 national seeds to secure first round byes. At No. 14, the Knights will host the winner of the first round matchup between Washington and Lipscomb. The second round contest is scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 18 at the UCF Soccer Complex.
With a 13-2-3 record, the Knights own the most wins for the program since 1998 and will compete in the NCAA Championship for the first time since 2011. The Knights collected four American Athletic Conference major awards, including Offensive Player of the Year (Cal Jennings), Midfielder of the Year (Louis Perez), Goalkeeper of the Year (Yannik Oettl) and Coaching Staff of the Year. Offensively, UCF has been one of the nation’s top units for the majority of the season, and currently rank in the top 10 in total goals, total points, goals per game, scoring offense and shots per game.
UCF shared the 2018 American Athletic Conference regular season crown with SMU, who prevailed over the host Knights in Saturday’s conference title match with a 5-4 advantage on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw. The Mustangs are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the past four years, and will travel to Oregon State on Thursday for the first round match. The winner will advance to meet Saint Mary’s, the No. 8 overall seed.
SMU (10-4-3) is the conference tournament champion for the second-straight year, and received a league-best seven All-Conference nods. Emil Cuello was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Offensive Player with the clinching penalty kick on Saturday, and goalkeeper Grant Makela earned Most Outstanding Defensive Player honors. The Mustangs enter Thursday’s contest on an eight-match unbeaten streak.
The American’s second at-large bid fell to UConn (11-5-2), which will host Rhode Island at Rentschler Field in Thursday’s first round contest. The winner will travel No. 2 overall seed Indiana for the second round. The Huskies, after receiving the No. 4 seed for the conference tournament, fell 2-3 in double overtime in the semifinals to UCF, but have maintained a high RPI ranking all season. UConn will make its 36
th NCAA Championship appearance in program history and its first since 2015.
Thursday’s contest will fulfill a previously scheduled regular-season matchup between UConn and Rhode Island that had been cancelled due to weather. UConn will look to advance to a rematch with Indiana, after falling to the Hoosiers 0-1 in September.
The College Cup will be held Dec. 7 and 9 at Harder Stadium on the campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara as the championship returns to the West Coast for the first time since 2010. ESPNU will provide live coverage of the semifinals and national championship game.
Live coverage on UCF, UConn and SMU will be available throughout the NCAA Championship at TheAmerican.org and on the conference’s social media platforms: @American_MSoc on Twitter and American_Conf on Facebook.
NCAA Men’s Soccer Championship
American Athletic Conference Draws
Thursday, Nov. 15 – First Round
UConn vs. Rhode Island – 7 p.m. ET, East Hartford, Conn. (Rentschler Field)
SMU vs. Oregon State – 3 p.m. ET, Corvallis, Ore. (Lorenz Field)
Sunday, Nov. 18 – Second Round
No. 14 UCF vs. Washington/Lipscomb – Orlando, Fla. (UCF Soccer Complex)